Biology I-2: Ch. 16 Test

Molecular evidence in support of natural selection includes

• the nearly universal genetic code.

• the presence of vestigial structures.

• a tendency toward perfect, unchanging DNA in various species.

• the transmission of acquired characteristics by DNA.

Similar patterns of embryological development in different but related organisms are responsible for the formation of

• Hox genes.

• analogous structures.

• homologous structures.

• intermediate fossil forms.

Biologists in Darwin's time had already begun to understand that living things change over time. How did Darwin contribute to these ideas?

• He found many fossils that showed that these changes could not possibly happen on islands.

• He figured out and explained how these changes happened and supported his ideas with evidence.

• He made guesses about how these changes happened, and wrote experiments that could be used to test these guesses.

• He was the first person to truly believe that these changes happened, and he worked very hard to convince others.

Charles Darwin called the ability of organism to survive and reproduce in its specific environment

• fitness.

• adaptation.

• diversity.

• evolution.

Darwin noticed that many organisms seemed well suited to

• being preserved as fossils.

• providing humans with food.

• surviving in the environments in which they lived.

• swimming from South America to the Galapagos Islands.

The species of finches that Charles Darwin found on different Galapagos Islands varied in certain structural adaptations. One of the most significant adaptations that Darwin noted was the

• similarities of the birds' embryos.

• length of the birds' necks.

• number of eggs in each bird's nest.

• birds' different-shaped beaks.

People of Charles Darwin's time understood that fossils were

• available for every organism that ever lived.

• preserved remains of ancient organisms.

• unrelated to living species.

• evidence for the evolution of life on Earth.

When a dairy farmer chooses to breed the cows that give the most milk in the herd, the farmers are following the principle of

• artificial selection.

• natural selection.

• acquired characteristics.

• descent with modification.

According to Darwin's theory of natural selection, individuals who survive are the ones best adapted for their environment. Their survival is due to the

• possession of inherited adaptations that maximize fitness.

• possession of adaptations developed through use.

• lack of competition within the species.

• choices made by plant and animal breeders.

Each of the following is a condition necessary for natural selection to occur EXCEPT

• population size is very large.

• more offspring are born than can survive.

• fitness varies among individuals.

• there is heritable variation among members of the population.